ok not that funny...

but I am seeking honest opinions and advise.

I bought and played Falcon 4.0 when it was released, loved it, played it for a year or two before moving... new games, news sims.. you know.

well I've been away from the flight sim market since Janes (my favorites)went bye bye. (got more into squad tactical games like RS, GR, OFP, ect ect)...

well now that flight sims are few and far between, I was looking into getting back into them.

I am definatly getting lock on, (no comments on that... I'm not here to start a falcon vs lock on war, lol.)

and was thinking about getting that new Falcon 4 that is due out this Nov. with all the updates and tweeks... but after reading some articles and post about that company and them steaing all you modders hard work, I sure don't want to give my money to people/businesses like that...

whats the truth? whats the real deal with all that mess?

should I avoid that new Falcon 4 sim or get it?

not starting a argument, not trying to get panyies up and tight... just a old flight simmer here looking for advise to get back into the cockpit.

thx in advance.

Well Magnum this is somewhat of an emotional isssue as you have seen, but from MY point of view this is the truth as I SEE IT.

1. G2I bought the rights to Falcon 4.0 and was planning on improving the game but for some reason (nothing was ever publically stated by G2I)nothing moved forward.

2. A group of enthusiast got together and worked out a deal with G2I to make thier own improvements using the source code. G2I agrees with the stipulation that whatever is developed will be turned over to G2I. All parties agree and the enthusiast sign an agreement.

3. For the next year to year and half (maybe longer) the enthusiast come out with some very good improvements to the basic game, fixing bugs and adding flyable aircraft(during this time G2I is not heard from and specualtion exits that the company may have went bankrupt). The enthusiast(F4UT) put out SP2. Shortly there after there is a split in the group and a splinter group is formed calling themselves Free Falcon. SP3 is published and Free Falcon has thier own version which is added ontop of SP3.

4. G2I like a long lost father comes back onto the scene and makes annoucement that all further developmet by the enthusiast must end and all products turned over to G2I.

5. Great wailing and nashing of teeth ensues until F4UT clarifies that they did sign an agreement with G2I to turn over their work at a prescribe time. G2I apololgizes for any undue stress they may have caused the Falcon 4.0 community and continues with Falcon 4.0 (OIF?) final development and plan release for the stores in time for the Christmas rush.

6. Basically the new game is nothing but the original Falcon 4.0 with all of the current patches and theaters developed by the enthusiast. If you have the original Falcon 4.0 you can save yourself some money by getting SP3, FF2 and a few other addons and then perform the Falcon installation dance and you will have basically the same game as the one coming out in December. The only adavantage of buying the new game is the installation will be a lot simpler, and they may have a couple of minor improvements in graphics and game play. My opinion what improvements they do have will not be noticable to the veteran Falcon player.

7. Purportedly, the proceeds for Falcon 4.0 (OIF?) will be used to develop Falcon V, but that is yet to be seen and handled with some trepidation.

Magnum, I want to reiterate this is MY VIEW of the truth and you and others milage may vary. If you have been around awhile you know that truth is somewhat relative to each person's perception. I am not a modder just a flier and I feel my observations are impartial.

Orion

Magnum,

That whole G2I thing is like a made for TV movie. Seriously, if you have Falcon 4, and the patience to add mods and tweak them, then I say pass up OIF and update your Falcon 4. If not then you can get OIR and enjoy the sim without the patching hassles. While I'm sure there will be some Falcon 4 owners that will buy OIR, I will stick with the patches and mods. Now, if Falcon 5 is ever released then that might be reason to buy.

--T

Talon, good points. I, however, being someone with limited time, a crappy internet connection, and less than stellar software skills, will buy OIR. Hoping, of course, that it will once and for all time simplify installation.

I mean, I have been following, if not actively playing, F4 since '98. And it was always a patching headache, until SP3 came out. That lasted about 5 minutes, and then came more "enhancements", some of which would work with SP3, and some (from what I've read) that would not. Same old thing.

I do not enjoy playing with Winzip, Windows Explorer, "cutting and pasting", etc., etc. I like to pretend I am a pilot of some warplane, involved in a war. I like to pretend that I could have the "right stuff", not that I could be employed in the IT industry.

So if this puts everything on one disc (and it works!), that's enough for me to cough up the money.

Your mileage may vary.

thx for the input...

i don't have falcon 4 anymore... i trade mine in after a year or so of playing.

so looks like i may get this new falcon version... I just wanted to make sure I wasn't supporting a ruthless company, stealing modders had work.

...well, I'm in the same boat. I really wanted a decent modern flight sim, but I didn't want to pay mucho bucks for a new system to run LOMAC.

So the other night I reinstalled four-oh, downloaded and installed all the patches including FF2 (...once I figured out what the heck FF2 was!) and I'm happily playing and learning the game. Its great. Decent graphics. Oh and somebody tossed in an flyable A-10 to boot!!! If you've got a cable modem it doesn't take long to download and install all the patches. Easily done in an evening. Not a much that much trouble at all. I've even downloaded a few new cockpits.

Many thanks to all the folks who developed these add-ons. And to those religious sim fanatics who razzed me for playing this game sans-joystick, I'm having a grand time!

I agree with everyone that's posted replies so far. I too am just a flier of F4 and all the guys that put soo much time into the addons/pathes are great!

If you know how to use WinZip then save the $$ and pass on OIF and stick with the freebies. Also I heard Oif is going to cost $40. Not sure how true that is but damn! that's a lot of cash to dish out for what they state you will get in OIF. I could maybe see $20 to $29 for the addon of new campaigns and graphic enhancements and the "new" A10". Then again, that's my opinion.

Bish

Well guys, I'm kinda neutral on OIR so I don't have an agenda.
But, there are some features in OIR that you might want to consider...and unless someone makes an illegal release, you'll need OIR to get the features to work. Then the rest of the add-ons can be re-loaded on top of it.
But as I understand it, OIR has some new features like, 2 engines that work like 2 engines, real low altitude turbulence, an excellent A-10 flight model that is not FBW (it is a stick and rudder plane)and the final gfx engine work by BMS.